OK, so I found openssl binaries for windows, installed them (and the VC++ 2008 redistributables) and tested ssl with openssl. I know I was using the windows version as the windows and linux version I have are different. Test worked. So I tried uninstalling and reinstalling newsleecher again, now it works EXCEPT it still starts SLOWLY. So, original problem remains with no solution: wine-pthread needed (well, some way to force pthread in wine). I did find one entry where someone made a backup copy of wine-pthread from an older wine install and that works for them but I am not that good with linux yet. I suppose I could uninstall wine, disable wine repositories for latest version, and lock myself in on whatever version comes with 8.04 from official repositories.
